Motorsport: Test driver gives McLaren top time in practice round

McLaren's Austrian test driver Alex Wurz eclipsed the new Ferrari with the fastest lap in free practice for tonight's Bahrain Grand Prix.

Wurz, driving the McLaren MP4-20 for the first time, and at a desert circuit he had never before been around, lapped in 1m30.695s.

That time in the afternoon session was a hefty 1.274s quicker than the Renault of championship leader Fernando Alonso.

Formula One's seven times world champion Michael Schumacher, second quickest in the morning on the competitive debut of the new Ferrari F2005, was fifth fastest and 1.736s off the McLaren third driver's pace in the afternoon.

"It felt very good," Schumacher said.

"We ran through our entire planned programme and everything went very smoothly."

Worryingly for Ferrari - who have rushed the car into service after a poor start to the season with the old F2004 - Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was sidelined for the entire second session with a gearbox problem.

"Due to the lack of parts, we will have to repair it for tomorrow," said Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn.

He added: "The new car seems nice and consistent and is doing everything we expected from it."

Wurz's time was a bitter-sweet success for the lanky Austrian, who will not race tonight despite being the official reserve.

He is so tall, he had been unable to fit into the car until McLaren pulled out all the stops to modify it following an injury to Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya at the weekend.

Montoya is absent from Bahrain. He has been replaced by Pedro de la Rosa, who has been testing the MP4-20 while Wurz has had to make do with last year's car.

De la Rosa was fourth quickest in the afternoon with a time of 1min 32.333s, behind Red Bull's Italian test driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

"I feel we can be competitive as we clearly have the pace, and I am looking forward to seeing how the rest of the weekend evolves," said De la Rosa.

Renault, winner of the first two races of the season and seeking a third in a row, limited their morning running in an effort to preserve tyres.

Ferrari have a proud record stretching back six years of winning on their new car's debut.

But Schumacher - victorious in the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix last year - and Barrichello look to have their work cut out this time.

The German, winner of 13 of 2004's 18 races, had been 0.671 of a second slower than Toyota's Brazilian test driver Ricardo Zonta in the morning.

Zonta's time was the second fastest of the day, although comparisons between the sessions meant little given changing track conditions and temperatures.

Ferrari, winners of the last six constructors' championships, are fourth in the championship with 10 points.

Schumacher has just two points on the board.

- REUTERS